About type and incidence of heart disease in psittacines kept in captivity in Germany

It was the aim of the study to get an overview about spectrum and incidence of pathological aberrations in hearts and proximal vessels of psittacines which are kept in captivity in Germany. 107 psittacines which had been sent for routine necroscopy were examined especially for evidence of pathological alterations of the heart and/or the proximal vessels. In 36.4% of these birds macroscopic alterations could be verified. 99.0% of all hearts examined resp. proximal vessels showed at least mild histological alterations. This study allocates that especially noninfectious heart disease is of markedly importance in psittacines and that their evidence is much higher than it might be suspected on the basis of publications.